2012-26732. Proposed Renewal of Information Collection: Payments in Lieu of Taxes

AGENCY:

Office of Budget, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of Budget, Office of the Secretary, Department of the Interior (DOI), announces that it has submitted a request for proposed extension of an information collection required by the Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act (PILT) to the Office of Management and Budget and requests public comments on this submission.

DATES:

OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove the information collection request, but may respond after 30 days; therefore, public comments should be submitted to OMB by November 30, 2012, in order to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES:

Send your written comments by facsimile to [phone] or email ([e-mail]) to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the Department of the Interior (1093-0005). Also, please send any comments by facsimile to [phone], Attn: Niall O'Connor. Comments may also be mailed to: Niall O'Connor at U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary, Office of Budget, 1849 C St. NW., MS 4106 MIB, Washington, DC 20240. Comments may also be emailed to Niall_O'[e-mail]. Individuals providing comments should reference OMB Control Number 1093-0005, “Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT Act), Statement of Federal Land Payments, 43 CFR 44.”

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information on this renewed information collection should be directed to Niall O'Connor at U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary, Office of Budget, 1849 C St. NW., MS 4106 MIB, Washington, DC 20240. You may also fax requests for further information to [phone], or email at Niall_O'[e-mail]. To see a copy of the entire ICR submitted to OMB, go to: http://www.reginfo.gov and select Information Collection Review, Currently Under Review.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations in 5 CFR part 1320, which implement the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub.L. 104-13), require that interested members of the public and affected agencies have an opportunity to comment on information collection and recordkeeping activities (see 5 CFR 1320.8(d)). This notice identifies an information collection activity that the Office of Budget is planning to submit to OMB for extension or re-approval.

Public Law 97-258 (31 U.S.C. 6901-6907), as amended, the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Act, was designed by Congress to help local governments recover some of the expenses they incur in providing services on public lands. These local governments receive funds under various Federal land payment programs such as the National Forest Revenue Act, the Mineral Lands Leasing Act, and the Taylor Grazing Act. PILT payments supplement the payments that local governments receive under these other programs. The President signed the Transportation bill (H.R. 4348) on July 6, 2012, which reauthorizes PILT for 2013, so this necessitates renewing the collection authority for another 3 years beyond 2012.

The PILT Act requires that the Governor of each State furnish the Department of the Interior with a listing of payments disbursed to local governments by the States on behalf of the Federal Government under 12 statutes described in Section 6903 of 31 U.S.C. The Department of the Interior uses the amounts reported by the States to reduce PILT payments to units of general local governments from that which they might otherwise receive. If such listings were not furnished by the Governor of each affected State, the Department would not be able to compute the PILT payments to units of general local government within the States in question.

In fiscal year 2004, administrative authority for the PILT program was transferred from the Bureau of Land Management to the Office of the Secretary of the Department of the Interior. Applicable DOI regulations pertaining to the PILT program to be administered by the Office of the Secretary were published as a final rule in the Federal Register on December 7, 2004 (69 FR 70557). The Office of Budget, Office of the Secretary is now planning to extend the information collection approval authority in order to enable the Department of the Interior to continue to comply with the PILT Act.

II. Data

(1) Title: Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT Act), Statement of Federal Land Payments, 43 CFR 44.

OMB Control Number: 1093-0005.

Current Expiration Date of Collection Authority: December 31, 2012.

Type of Review: Information Collection Renewal.

Affected Entities: State, local, or tribal government.

Estimated annual number of respondents: 43.

Frequency of Response: Annual.

(2) Annual reporting and record keeping burden: Average reporting burden per application: 53 hours.

Total annual reporting: 2,279 hours.

(3) Description of the need and use of the information: The statutorily-required information is needed to compute payments due units of general local government under the PILT Act (31 U.S.C. 6901-6907). The Act requires that the Governor of each State furnish a statement as to amounts paid to units of general local government under 12 revenue-sharing statutes in the prior fiscal year. The President signed the Transportation bill (H.R. 4348) on July 6, 2012, which reauthorizes PILT for 2013, so continued authority is needed.

III. Request for Comments

As required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), a Federal Register notice soliciting comments on the collection of information was published on June 19, 2012 (77 FR 36568). No comments were received. This notice provides the public with an additional 30 days in which to comment on the proposed renewal of this information collection activity.

Comments are again invited on: (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the information collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install and utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to a collection of information, to search data sources, to complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the information.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget control number.

All written comments will be available for public inspection in the Main Interior Building, 1849 C Street NW., Washington, DC during normal business hours, excluding legal holidays. For an appointment to inspect comments, please contact Niall O'Connor by telephone on [phone], or by email at Niall_O'[e-mail] to make an appointment. Valid picture identification is required for entry into the Department of the Interior.

Public Comment Policy: Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us, in your comment, to withhold your personal identifying information from public view, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Pam Haze,

Deputy Assistant Secretary, Budget, Finance, Performance, and Acquisition.